"During the quarter, as we did during the first nine months, we grew our sales and earnings despite moderate overall economic conditions that varied by region and end-use market and continued negative impacts from currency translation," PPG CEO Charles Bunch said in a statement.

Sales in its coatings business surged 30% in the quarter. Revenue from its commodities chemical business, which it's in the process of spinning off, climbed despite lower-than-expected sales and unplanned production outages.

In addition to improvements in North America, the company said prospects should improve in Asia, but remain challenged in Europe.

PPG in December announced an $875 million deal for the North American paint unit of Dutch chemicals firm AkzoNobel. That gives it Glidden paint and other brands as it tries to capitalize on the rebounding U.S. housing market. The unit had 2011 sales of $1.5 billion, but has struggled against larger rival Sherwin-Williams (SHW).

PPG shares were down slightly to 141.42 intraday Monday. Sherwin-Williams shares were down fractionally to 161.18.